Scouting Florida: Consider the Gators candidates for turnaround team of the year. Florida was 7-6 last season, including a 3-5 mark in the SEC. A year later, Florida was one of the elite teams in the East and in the conference overall. Were it not for a 17-9 loss to Georgia, the Gators, No. 4 in the BCS poll, could possibly be playing for the national championship. It ended the regular season on a resounding note, shocking rival Florida State 37-26 in Tallahassee. When it comes to resumes, arguably no one has one better.

Scouting Louisville: The Cardinals rose to No. 11 in the country after opening the season 9-0, but consecutive losses to Syracuse and Connecticut exposed this team. Close-shave victories against FIU (7 points), Southern Miss (4) and South Florida (2) came against teams that went a combined 12-24. The Cardinals' hopes of being competitive in this game rests on whether QB Teddy Bridgewater's injured right ankle can heal properly in the next month. Bridgewater willed Louisville to a win over Rutgers Byron Leftwich-style, as he was barely able to put weight on the leg. Also worth tracking is whether Charlie Strong will bolt the program. He reportedly interviewed for the Auburn job, an assertion he vehemently denies, but a potential early departure would be a blow to this rising team.

Travel info and approximate distance from airport location to stadium:

Bowl history: This bowl has seen a wide spectrum of competitors geographically and conference-wise, but often features one of the top SEC squads that didn't receive a BCS title nod. The past two have been particularly thrilling, with Michigan prevailing in overtime and Ohio State overcoming Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett. Tim Tebow shattered Sugar Bowl passing records in Florida's utter devastation of Big East champ Cincinnati in 2009. Nick Saban suffered perhaps his biggest black eye of his Alabama era in the Crimson Tide's 31-17 defeat in in 2009 against WAC challenge Utah. This came a year after Mark Richt's Georgia Bulldogs completely shut-down a high-flying Hawaii offense in 2008, leaving that year's WAC champs answerless. Tulane defeated Temple in the inaugural Sugar Bowl in 1935.